The new Annotated Quest features a re-edition of Charles Craver’s article “Horses of the White City”, the most comprehensive article to date on the history of the Hamidie importation of Arabian horses to the Chicago World Fair of 1893. The history of the Hamidie horses themselves and that of the people around them is still shrouded with mystery. One of those people is J.R. Dolbony, who was associated with the importation in some way or other (he hailed from the Dalbani Shi’a Muslim family of Baalbeck in Lebanon today). I have found his testimonies about the Hamidie horses very intriguing, and I believe they should be taken seriously. In a letter to Homer Davenport from 1909 now at the US National Archives, Dolbony made several claims: 1) that he raised the Hamidie import *Mannaky; 2) that both *Mannaky’s sire and dam were of the Ma’naqi strain (hence his name); 3) that both were owned by “Sage el Misrub”, and 4) that *Mannaky was bred by this same “Sage el Misrub”. I have just identified this “Sage el Misrub”. He was none other than Sagr al-Misrub (that ‘r’ at the end of his first name must have been mistaken for an…
When I first opened Volume One of the Syrian Studbook some twenty five years ago, the first thing that struck me was the very limited number of horses that traced to the Sba’ah Bedouin tribe. After all, this powerful and wealthy tribe which is part of the larget ‘Anazah confederation spent its summer quarters in the area directly east of the city of Hama in central Syria. As a result it was familiar to Western travelers and government agents who took off from Aleppo, Damascus or Beirut, in search for Bedouin Arabian horses. Another result of this geographical location was that many of the early desert-bred imports to the West and Egypt, which form the antecedents of many of today’s Arabian horses, hailed from the Sba’ah tribe. Major Roger Upton, for instance, spent some time with Sba’ah leader Shaykh Sulayman Ibn Mirshid in 1874, and bought horses like Kesia, Yataghan and Haidee from his tribesmen. Similarly, Lady Anne and Wilfrid Blunt visited with Beteyen Ibn Mirshid a few years later and some of their best known early desert imports were bred by the Sba’ah: Queen of Sheba, Meshura, Azrek, Pharaoh, Dajania, Hagar, etc. Some of the horses imported by Homer…
Another daughter of Mach’al, this time a Ma’naqiyah named Cha’lah, also from an old strain of the Dandashi lords of Tal Kalakh. Sire of dam: al-Jazzar, a Kuhaylan Nawwaq; sire of granddam: Ghazwan, a Kuhaylan al-Kharas; pictured with a foal by a partbred stallion. Photographed by my father somewhere in Western Syria, most likely in Tal Kalakh in the late 1970s, and pedigree in his handwriting on the back of the photo. How much I would give for just one of those mares now. There numbered in the low hundreds at the height of the Lebanese national program, before the civil war of 1975-1990. In 1991, there were only 25 mares left, most born between 1965 and 1975. Today, zero left in asil form.
An asil Saqlawiyah, daughter of Mach’al (and hence paternal sister of the stallion Achhal, the sire of the tree mares in the previous entries), from an old strain of the Dandashis (perhaps the Saqlawi Ibn Zubaynah strain tracing to Umm al-Tubul), photographed by my father in Tal Kalakh, Syria, in the late 1970s. She was exported to Qatar during the Lebanese civil war. Many of the best asil Lebanese mares were sent to the Gulf countries, where they were wasted.
While scanning old photos this morning, I happened on these two photos. There is a story to them. One evening in 1985 or 1986, a Lebanese visitor came to see my father in Beirut, and left the two photos behind. He spoke emphatically about his trip to the Syrian Jazirah (Upper Mesopotomia in North Eastern Syria today) and the desert-bred horses he had seen there. I was seven or eight years old, I did not catch much of the conversation but the photos made a lasting impression on me. It was in the middle of the Lebanese civil war, communications between Syria and the part of Lebanon we lived in were infrequent and difficult, and most Lebanese horsemen involved in the Lebanese horse racing scene, including my father, were convinced that no more good, authentic, pure desert-bred horses were left in the Syrian desert, because of the degenerescence of the breed and its contamination by part-bred Arabs from Iraq. “You will only find leftovers there”, my father was once told. These photos and the visitor’s description showed otherwise, just at a time when the Syrian breeders were launching a large-scale effort to register all the horses of the Bedouins. Indeed,…
Pauline Du Plessis’s Saruk Arabians is standing the bay 1999 Bahraini stallion Mlolshaan Mutab (Mlolshaan Hilal x Mlolesh Durra by Jellaby Adari) at stud in South Africa. He was bred by the stud of Sh. Mohammed Bin Salman Aal Khalifah, and is heavily linebred with Mlolesh (Mulawlishan) blood. He is a sire of endurance winners. Photo from Saruk’s stud Facebook page.
Monica Savier has two articles on the Bahrain WAHO conference, one is Desert Heritage, and the other in Tutto Arabi.
Sharon Meyers has a comprehensive and nicely illustrated report in the Australian Arabian Horse Society New in two parts (Part 1 and Part 2) on the WAHO conference in Bahrain. Lots of great photos of Bahraini horses.
I had never seen this photo of the Ma’naqi Sbayli stallion Bango, bred by the Shammar in 1923, and imported to Algeria by the French government in 1928, from an Egyptian racetrack. The photo was taken from an article on the Algeria stud of Tiaret, which appeared in the magazine Le Sport Universel Illustre N1375 of 1929/07/06. Although French studs did not favor grey horses at the time, Bango left behind 142 offspring in both Algeria and Tunisia, including the stallions Sumeyr, Beyrouth, Titan, Caleh, and the mares Tosca, Salome, Palmyre, El Balaska, Gafsa, Themis, Diyyena, and others that stamped Northern African studs with their quality.
Better resolution photos from the Shuwayman Sabbah stallion Mahboub Halab in France this summer.
I spent some time with my friend Jean-Claude Rajot and his companion Fabienne Vesco and her daughter Severine this past summer. His imported Syrian stallion Mahboub Halab is looking glorious. I have other better photos too.
A photo of the desert bred stallion Telmèse, born in 1903, imported to France by Quinchez in 1912 has surfaced on allbreedpedigree.com. His name is spelled “Telmez” there. There is no strain recorded for Telmese, only that he was an “Asil de la tribu des Chammars”. This marks one of the first usages of the term “Asil” for an Arabian horse in French official records. His most important progeny includes the stallion Djebel Moussa, sent to Tunisia, out of Dragonne, and the mare Medje, out of Dragonne’s daughter Dourka.
The desert-bred Arabian stallion Dahman, born in 1900, imported from Syria to France’s Pompadour stud in 1909 by Quinchez, remains one of the prototypes of the authentic Arabian stallion. He was bred by the Shammar, by a stallion of the Dahman strain, out of a mare of the Rabdan strain. This photo is in a 1923 article from the magazine “Le Sport Universel Illustre”, from the Bibliotheque Nationale de France.
I spent part of the weekend at Hazaim’s house and small farm in North Carolina, and got to see his five Davenports, four Kuhaylan Haifis and a Hadba Enzahi. The best part was a trail ride around the subdivision, him on Gilad Ibn Dubloon and me on Una CF. Below are two photos of his 2010 Hadba Enzahi mare, Zubaida Assahara (RL Thunder Cloud x RL Angel Girl by Letarnard), with 4 lines to *Hadba. She was in many ways my favorite, despite being the smallest of the lot. A war mare, built like a tank, with a broad chest, a deep girth and a broad, round rib cage, exuding stamina and power, with a pleasing and dry head, a big eye and prominent eye socket, a dry bony face, an elegant arched throat, hair fine like silk, a shiny copper coat, overall not without style, and so reminiscent of the small and valiant desert horses of my childhood in Syria.
More photos, this time from a Syrian village, from this Delcampe.net old memorabilia auction site. I am more and more eager to find the source of these photos, and exactly where and when they were taken.
Enjoy these photos from an auction site, Delcampe.net, which have never been published before. I don’t know their source, but I suspect they were taken during official government buying missions. A breeder from Algeria, Farid Chaoui, shared them with me, and should know more. The legend for some of them say “Hadideen”, the name of a Syrian Bedouin tribe, for others they say “Raqqa”. There are more.
I made a small but interesting breakthrough in further understanding old Bahraini pedigrees, and I am excited to share it. It concerns the background of one of the Bahraini foundation mares of the Ma’naqi strain. This is the mare “Managhieh Bin Hiddfa Al-Murra”, the maternal grand dam of the two Royal Stud stallions Managhi Al Kabir, and his brother the superb Managhi Al Saghir (photo below). It just occurred to me, after reading a letter from Jens Sannek to Edie Booth, where the name of the mare was spelled slightly differently as “Ma’anaghieh (Bin Hidfah Almorrah)”, that the part of the name between brackets referred to her breeder and his tribe. Al-Murra/Almorra refers to the South-Eastern Arabian Bedouin tribe of same name; Bin Hidfah/Bin Hiddfa would be the breeder’s clan. I set off looking for a clan by the name of Bin/Ibn Hidfah among the Aal Murra, and I found many mentions of it online. There is a reference to the warrior/poet Dayes Aal Hidfah, where he refers to “al-Mu’niq” in his verses, here. There are also many references to social events involving men from the Aal Hidfah clan on the tribe’s social media outlets, which are also maintained by a…
This is “Maanaghieh Safra Marshoosha”, literally “the yellow fleebitten Ma’naqiyah mare” from Bahrain. The photo is from Volume 1 of the Bahrain Studbook, and I think by Danah Al Khalifah. I don’t have it in a better resolution. I need help figuring out whether the mare is sticking her tongue out in the photo. It sounds stupid, but there is a reason for this request: ‘Atiyah Abu Sayfayn, the Fad’aan Bedouin from Syria who owned one of the most reputable XXth century Ma’naqi marbat told Kamal ‘Abd al-Khaliq who told me several years ago that ‘Atiyah once (in the 1950s-60s?) gave a grey/yellow Ma’naqiyah mare to Jad’aan the son of Miqhim Ibn Mhayd who in turn gave her to a senior member of the royal family of Bahrain. ‘Atiyah told Kamal that the mare’s nickname was Umm Lssoon, the ‘mother of tongues’ because she always stuck her tongue out. He also told him that she was closely related to Atiyah’s mare Wadeehah (b. 1970), photo below taken by me at Kamal’s stud outside Aleppo in the early 90s.
This section of the same Youtube video features horses at the Studfarm of the sons of Sh. Mohammed B. Salman. A pure delight, with many thanks to the person who filmed it.
Thanks to Jenny Lees, I had the chance to visit the stud of the late Sh. Mohammad Bin Salman Aal Khalifah, now property of his sons. My camera phone (yes, I know) battery died within the first minutes, but not before I took this video video of the stallions at rest (click here). You will recognize several of the stallions Matthias Oster and featured here over the previous days and weeks. The first one is a Jellabi, the last one a fleebitten Mlolshaan, the handsome chestnut Sa’idan is right behind the first Jellabi by some sort of yellow manger. You can spot the Rabdan Al Aswaj by another manger towards the first third of the video.
Rabdan Alawsaj M291, grey stallion, born 2001, by Jellaby Sultan M49 out of Rabda Salha M125
Jellaby Maroof M309, bay stallion, born 2001, by Jellaby Alyatim M130 out of Jellabieh Rayana M50
Jellaby Faiz M448, grey stallion, born 2007, by Jellaby Mansoor M152 out of Jellabieh Dora M54
Saidan Toofan M346, chestnut stallion, born 2002, by Jellaby Alyatim M130 out of Saida Fajer M72
Shuwaimaan Mishwaar M401, black stallion, born 2006, by Rabdaan Naif M154 out of Shuwaimah Nafaa M97
Obeyaan Smaier M439, grey stallion, born 2007, by Dhahmaan Faraj M157 out of Obeyah Samira M262
Dhahmaan Hoobeishi 1085, dark bay stallion, born 1998, by Kuheilaan Umm Zorayr Al Dheleem 407 out of Dhahma Umm Wajnah 821
Obeyaan Azheer M361, grey stallion, born 2003 by Dahmaan Shaban M84 out of Obeyah Al Gabra M153
This photo, also from Kina Murray, is from the 2007 WAHO conference in Syria, from the post-conference Tour to North Eastern Syria. In Kina’s words: “[This photo] was taken when we had many horses presented to us when we were hosted by the Tai [Bedouins]. She was a lovely mare. […] I do remember that the owner of the mare (sorry I know he was an Ibn Ghorab but dont have his first name) was not only holding his mare so proudly, but also 2 mobile phones, and a large gun which you can just about see in the photo! “ Below a photo I took of Ibn Ghurab’s mares in Rumaylan, North Eastern Syria, near the Iraqi border, two years earlier, in 2005. Click on it to enlarge it. Happy times…
I love this photo of the desert-bred Ubayyah Suhayliyah Reem al-Oud in Bedouin gear with Kina Murray riding. It was taken in the North East Syria in 2002. Here’s Kina’s description of this moment: “Attached is me having a gentle walk on an elderly mare on the trip when we went to do the investigation on all the horses that were added to the studbook, in 2002. […] I can’t remember her strain, possibly Obeyah Seheilieh, I rode her when we visited the home of Sheikh Mezer Ojail Abdull Kareem of the Shammar in Al Hassaka, as far as I recall. One of my best memories ever. In fact she had just taken part in an impromptu 5km race across the desert! Here are a couple of quotes from the report I wrote about that trip: “At the home of Sheikh Mezer Ojail Abdull Kareem of the Shammar in Al Hassaka, a slightly longer race across the desert with about 5 mares taking part was arranged for our entertainment, it seemed that this was a regular activity. One of the mares taking part was 22 years old. The ‘finishing line’ appeared to be exactly where our group was standing, and it…
Mlolesh Sehaam M605, chestnut mare, born 2010, by Dhahmaan Alashgar M139 out of Mlolesh Al Mashoora M269
Mlolshaan Adbas M623, bay stallion, born 2011, by Jellaby Maroof M309 out of Mlolesh Khalasa M107
Mlolshaan Al Dhakheel M429, bay stallion, born 2006, by Jellaby Nader M46 out of Mlolesh Khalasa M107
Mlolshaan Enaad M549, grey stallion, by Krayaan Sager M197 out of Mlolesh Al Haiza 1149
Krushaan Bader M498, bay stallion, born 2008, by Jellaby Mansoor M152 out of Lettice BHRSP 290 (non asil) (Lettice was imported from Britain, when the Krush strain was lost in Bahrain.)
Krayaan Kuhraman M599, bay stallion, born 2010, by Jellaby Maroof M309 out of Kray Al Khurra M365
Krayaan Kuhraman M663, bay stallion, born 2010, by Jellaby Maroof M309 out of Kray Al Khurra M365 and Krayyan Nashwaan M663, grey stallion, born 2012, by Rabdaan Naif M154 out of Kray Amana M214
Suwaity Mamdooh M671, grey stallion, born 2012, by Krayaan Sager M197 out of Suwaitieh Enaam M363
Suwaity Munem M580, grey stallion, born 2009, by Jellaby Mansoor M152 out of Suwaitieh Enaam M363
Shawaf Azraq M624, grey stallion, born 2011, by Rabdaan Alawsaj M291 out of Shawafah Thabita M310
Shawaf Baarah M406, grey stallion, born 2005, by Jellaby Sultan M49 out of Shawafah Reisha M141
This morning I received my copy of Judi Forbi’s latest book “Ansata Hejazi: Born to Rule” in the mail. It is a tribute to one of the best stallions she ever bred, Ansata Hejazi, a Dahman Shahwan. His owner Mohammad al-Marzouq showed him to me at his stud in Kuwait in 2012, along with more than a dozen of his daughters. I wrote an article in this book upon Judi’s request, about the historical origins of the Dahman Shahwan strain. I showed how it was – by far – the oldest attested Arabian horse strain, and I traced it back to north eastern Yemen in the XIIIth century AD. I also found that Shahwan was an historical figure, a Bedouin leader from the ‘Abidah tribe who played a prominent role in supporting the military conquests of the Rasulid dynasty of Yemen between 1270 and 1290 AD. It is original research based on evidence from three types of sources: a set of four Yemeni chronicles from Rasulid times; analyses of oral Bedouin epic folk tales, consisting of various versions of the “the epic of the Dayaghim” as recorded by Alison Lerrick in Central Arabia and Nino Van Reisen in Jordan in the 1980s, and in Lady Anne Blunt’s Journals from…
Musannah Hanoof M598, grey mare, born 2010, by Jellaby Mansoor M152 out of Musannah Ghazwa 1235 and her filly born 2016
Musannan Awaad M635, grey stallion, born 2011, by Rabdaan Baher M294 out of Musannah Ghazwa 1235
Tuwaisaan Talleb M555, grey stallion, born 2009, by Rabdan Alawsaj M291 out of Tuwaisah Khabaari 927
Saqlawieh Dhabiya 1621, grey mare, born 2010, by Obeyaan Al Muheeb 957 out of Saqlawieh Manaar 1246
Shuwaimeh Al Zubarah 1292, grey mare, born 2002, by Hamdaany Nejd 850 out of Shuwaimeh Menwah 905 and her bay colt Shuwaiaan 1792 by Mlolshaan Wesam 1371
Krayaan 1706, grey stallion, born 2014, by Mlolshaan Wesam 1371 out of Kray Tameya´a 1399
In his 1936 book “Rihlah ila Bilad al-‘Arab” about his journey to Arabia in search for Arabian horses, Dr. Ahmad Mabrouk of the Royal Agricultural Society of Egypt mentioned two mares of the Kuhaylan al-Kray strain in the stud of Prince Saud ibn ‘Abdallah Ibn Jalawi, governor of the Eastern region of the then newly established Kingdom of Saudi Arabia [translation mine]: “Krush al-Kray, golden chestnut, no white on the face, pretty head, nice legs but short neck, five years old, her dam the bay Kray, and her sire the bay ‘Ubayyan.” “Bay Kray, white on the hind legs, pretty, eight years old, not to be mated.” This seems to suggest that the strain of Kuhaylan al-Kray (or Karay), was actually an offshoot of the more famous strain of Kuhaylan al-Krush, but was not to be mated for some reason. As I came back from Bahrain where I saw representatives of this rare strain, I dug a bit deeper and found the following in the ‘Abbas Pasha Manuscript, in the section on Kuhaylat ibn Jarshan, the Jallabiyah: “and we [several elders from the ‘Ajman testifying] mated her to Kuhaylan al-Karay, the horse of Ibn ‘Ulbah of Aal Mu’yid of Al ‘Ajman” This reference constitutes…
Kuheila´t Aladiyat Wasamah 1296, chestnut mare, born 2002, by Kuheilaan Aafas Rakaan 886 out of Kuheila´t Aladiyat Ray Iaanah 809 and her chestnut filly born 2016 Kuheila´t Aladiyat 1782 by Shuwaimaan Sadeq
Kuheila´t Umm Zorayr Alia 1612, bay mare, born 2010, by Maánaghy Mesbah 1101 out of Kuheila´t Umm Zorayr Mafkhara 1387 (the first mare I posted here) and her bay colt Kuheilaan Umm Zorayr 1776, born 2016
Kuheila´t Umm Zorayr Nadija 1568, grey mare, born 2009, by Hamdaany Wadhah 901 out of Kuheila´t Umm Zorayr Zaraya 1036 and her colt Kuhailaan Umm Zorayr 1775, bay, born 2016, by Hamdaany Senafee 1381 Two colts playing: Kuheilaan Um Zorayr 1775 (right) and Kuheilaan Um Zorayr 1776 (by Hamdaany Ra´an 1294 out of Kuheila´t Umm Zorayr Alia 1612)
Rabda Eshtahar 1392, grey mare, born 2005, by Hamdaany Wadha 901 out of Rabda Hujaisieh 789
Hamdanieh Khawla 1637, grey mare, born 2011, by Shawaf Al Betaar 953 out of Hamdanieh Buttha 1198
Tuwaisah Ajla 1694, bay mare, born 2014, by Obeyaan Al Muheeb 957 out of Tuwaisa Sallamah 1072
Hamdaany Zaizoom 1349, bay stallion, born 2004, by Saqlaawy Saba´an 327 out of Hamdanieh Khaznah 914
Kuheilaan Aafas 1708, bay stallion, born 2014, by Dhahmaan Hoobeishi 1085 out of Kuheila´t Aafas Nood 1086
I met Regina and Warren in Bahrain for the first time, after corresponding with them for seven years. They have been preserving the Dahman strain branch of the original Bahraini mare Sawannah in Germany, with their foundation mare Ghazalah (Ibn Taamrud x DB Jasidah by Desert Jalam) and her daughter Muharraq by Theeb. They also breed a Hamdani strain from Al Kamila (Desert Dhellal x Bint Amiraa). The ancient Dahman strain died out in Bahrain with the death of Dahmeh Umm Wajnah, and is now only represented by a stallion, the last of his line, Dhahmaan Hoobeishi, whose photo Matthias Oster posted below. So the Royal Stud of Bahrain sought a replacement for their lost line, and Regina sent three mares, and now a fourth is on her way. When in Bahrain, Regina was gifted an Ubayyan stallion (photo below, with the ruler’s brother) who will hopefully reach Europe sometime next month.
In the same vein as this note in 2014: Fadlallah Jirjis, a Syrian Christian from the area of Wadi al-Nasara, and a close friend of Dr. Iskandar Qassis, owned a precious Hamdaniyat al-Simri mare from the Qassis herd. He would never be tired of repeating that she was from the breeding of ‘Ajaj (Ajaaaaaaj as he would say it) ibn Shibib, one of the Sba’ah leading Shaykhs. She was a bay daughter of Sahab, the beautiful bay Ma’naqi Abu Sayfayn head stallion of Qassis; her daughter Zabia, was by Qassis’ other stallion, Kharuf, a Ma’naqi Zudghum. Ma’naqi Abu Sayfayn and Ma’naqi Zudghum are the two most precious branches of Ma’naqi Sbayli, the first from the Fad’an and the second from the Sba’ah.
Jellaby Janah 1683, chestnut stallion, born 2014, by Tuwaisaan Tha´atha´a 1251 out of Jellabieh Hathaari 1380